Trump disputes his own Justice Department's findings on Reflecting Pool

US President Donald Trump disputes the Justice Department's findings that a flawed installation, not vandalism, caused the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's peeling lining in Washington, D.C.

U.S. President ​Donald Trump posted on Saturday that he disagrees ​with his own Justice Department's findings that ‌a ​flawed installation, not vandalism, caused the lining of the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., to peel.

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, ‌the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. "I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM." In a ‌court filing on Friday, Pirro and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence asked a judge to drop ‌the Trump administration's case against David Hearn, 67, a former Olympian it had accused of vandalizing the pool, which has become a flashpoint over Trump's efforts to remake Washington.

The renovated pool had quickly developed blooms of algae that tinted the water green, while pieces ⁠of the ​blue lining had peeled off. Trump, ⁠facing criticism over the $14.7 million renovation, had repeatedly blamed the problems on vandals he alleged had intentionally sabotaged the project.

In their filing ⁠on Friday, federal prosecutors said the latest documents they received from the Department of the Interior "indicated a rushed and flawed installation ​process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining ⁠throughout the Reflecting Pool." Trump suggested that prosecutors overstated the effects of a bad installation. "There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major ⁠damage ​was caused by VANDALS!" he wrote on Saturday.

In a subsequent social media post, Trump included a previously released U.S. Park Police video that he claimed showed vandals at the site while workers were in the ⁠pool removing algae. "Look for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool," he wrote, although it ⁠is not clear in ⁠the clip whether people are merely reaching into the water to remove pieces that were already peeling.

Pirro's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.